Four Sons and a Tree

Four Sons and a Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

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“To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven”

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

Solomon gives the same wisdom as the father in the story above, that now cannot be the time for everything, but is the time for something. There are seasons in a year, and there are seasons in life. There are relationships that are for a season, there are occupations for a season, pets for a season, family for a season, but none last forever.

The specific message of the father above is worth consideration: we cannot judge anything or anyone because we experienced them in a season, it isn’t the sum of that person! It isn’t fair to judge someone and write them off because of a few experiences with them. We are challenged to be more like our Father, and not look at what is, but what could be. How would our interactions and relationships change if we viewed others according to their potential? How would we react if we viewed ourselves that same way as our Father does?

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

-Ecclesiastes 3:11

I love you

Jonathan